Method for making coated article

ABSTRACT

A method for making a coated article includes the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a copper-iron target by a hot isostatic pressing process using copper powder and iron powder; forming a copper-iron alloy layer on the substrate by vacuum sputtering using the copper-iron target. A coated article is also described.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to the U.S. patent applications listedbelow. The current application and the related applications have thesame assignee.

The disclosure of each of the listed applications is incorporated byreference into the instant application.

Current U.S. Ser. No. Status Title Inventors 13/233,870 pending METHODFOR MAKING COATED HSIN-PEI ARTICLE AND COATED ARTICLE CHANG THEREOF etal. 13/233,909 pending METHOD FOR MAKING COATED HSIN-PEI ARTICLE ANDCOATED ARTICLE CHANG THEREOF et al.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a method for making coated articlesand a coated article formed by the method.

2. Description of Related Art

Alloy coatings may be applied on metal substrates by hot dippingprocesses or thermal spraying using alloy powder. Copper (Cu) and iron(Fe) are widely used for their excellent properties and low costs.However, stable Cu—Fe alloy for a hot dipping process or thermalspraying may be difficult to obtain because the Cu and Fe are smelted ata very high temperature, which may cause the Cu—Fe alloy to disintegrateand form a Cu phase and a Fe phase. When being quenched, the Cu phaseand Fe phase will separate and thus Cu—Fe alloy cannot be formed.

Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with referenceto the following figures. The components in the figures are notnecessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed uponclearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a coatedarticle.

FIG. 2 is an overhead view of an exemplary embodiment of a vacuumsputtering device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, according to an exemplary embodiment, a method formaking a coated article 10 may include the following steps:

A substrate 11 is provided. The substrate 11 may be made of stainlesssteel or copper alloy.

The substrate 11 is cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaning device (not shown)filled with ethanol or acetone and then dried.

A copper-iron (Cu—Fe) alloy layer 13 may be magnetron sputtered on thepretreated substrate 11. Referring to FIG. 2, the substrate 11 may bepositioned in a coating chamber 21 of a vacuum sputtering device 20. Thecoating chamber 21 is fixed with Cu—Fe targets 23.

The mass ratio between the Cu and Fe in the Cu—Fe target 23 may be about1:4 to about 4:1. The Cu—Fe targets 23 may be formed by a method asfollows:

Copper powder and iron powder are mixed and positioned in a ball mill(not shown) to be grinded for about 120 min-200 min to get a mixture.The copper powder has a purity of more than 99.9% and an averageparticle size of about 10 μm-50 μm.

The iron powder has a purity of more than 99.9% and an average particlesize of about 10 μm-50 μm. The mixture is then hot isostatic pressed toform a semi-finished product. The semi-finished product is sintered forabout 2 hours to 2.5 hours at a temperature of about 1300° C.-1500° C.and then cooled to form the Cu—Fe targets 23.

The coating chamber 21 is evacuated to about 8.0×10⁻³ Pa. Argon (Ar) gashaving a purity of about 99.999% may be used as a working gas and is fedinto the coating chamber 21 at a flow rate of about 100 standard-statecubic centimeters per minute (sccm) to about 300 sccm. The internaltemperature of the coating chamber 21 may be heated to about 120°C.-180° C. A power of about 6 kilowatt (kW)-13 kW is applied to theCu—Fe targets 23, and the copper atoms and iron atoms are sputtered offfrom the Cu—Fe targets 23 to deposit on the substrate 11 and form theCu—Fe alloy layer 13. The temperature in the coating chamber 21 is muchlower than the temperature for smelting Cu and Fe, so the Cu and Fedeposited on the substrate 11 in the exemplary embodiment will not phaseseparate, thus a Cu—Fe alloy layer 13 is formed. The Cu—Fe alloy layer13 has a thickness of about 120 nm-200 nm. During the depositingprocess, the substrate 11 may have a bias voltage of about −100 V toabout −200 V. Depositing of the Cu—Fe alloy layer 13 may take about 30min-60 min.

FIG. 1 shows the coated article 10 formed by the exemplary method. Thecoated article 10 includes the substrate 11 and the Cu—Fe alloy layer 13formed on a surface of the substrate 11. The substrate 11 may be made ofstainless steel or copper alloy. The mass ratio between the Cu and Fewithin the Cu—Fe alloy layer 13 may be about 1:4 to about 4:1. The Cu—Fealloy layer 13 has a thickness of about 120 nm-200 nm. The Cu—Fe alloylayer 13 has excellent mechanical and electrical properties.

Specific examples of making the coated article 10 are described asfollows. The process of cleaning the substrate 11 in these specificexamples may be substantially the same as previously described so it isnot described here again. Additionally, the magnetron sputtering processof forming the Cu—Fe alloy layer 13 in the specific examples aresubstantially the same as described above, and the specific examplesmainly emphasize the different process parameters of making the coatedarticle 10.

EXAMPLE 1

The substrate 11 is made of stainless steel.

Forming the Cu—Fe targets 23: copper powder having an average particlesize of 30 μm-50 μm and iron powder having an average particle size of30 μm-50 μm are mixed with a mass ratio of 4:1 and positioned in a ballmill to be grinded for 200 min and then be hot isostatic pressed to forma semi-finished product; the semi-finished product is sintered for 2hours at a temperature of 1500° C. and then cooled to form the Cu—Fetargets 23.

Sputtering to form the Cu—Fe alloy layer 13 on the substrate 11: theflow rate of Ar is 300 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −180V; the Cu—Fe targets 23 are applied with a power of 8 kW; the internaltemperature of the coating chamber 21 is 150° C.; sputtering of theCu—Fe alloy layer 13 takes 30 min; the Cu—Fe alloy layer 13 has athickness of 130 nm.

EXAMPLE 2

The substrate 11 is made of copper-zinc alloy, the copper within thecopper-zinc alloy has a mass percentage of more than 70%.

Forming the Cu—Fe targets 23: copper powder having an average particlesize of 30 μm-50 μm and iron powder having an average particle size of30 μm-50 μm are mixed with a mass ratio of 1:4 and positioned in a ballmill to be grinded for 120 min and then be hot isostatic pressed to forma semi-finished product; the semi-finished product is sintered for 2.5hours at a temperature of 1300° C. and then cooled to form the Cu—Fetargets 23.

Sputtering to form the Cu—Fe alloy layer 13 on the substrate 11: theflow rate of Ar is 300 sccm; the substrate 11 has a bias voltage of −100V; the Cu—Fe targets 23 are applied with a power of 13 kW; the internaltemperature of the coating chamber 21 is 180° C.; sputtering of theCu—Fe alloy layer 13 takes 60 min; the Cu—Fe alloy layer 13 has athickness of 200 nm.

It is believed that the exemplary embodiment and its advantages will beunderstood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent thatvarious changes may be made thereto without departing from the spiritand scope of the disclosure or sacrificing all of its advantages, theexamples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for making a coated article, comprising:providing a substrate; forming a copper-iron target by a hot isostaticpressing process using copper powder and iron powder; forming acopper-iron alloy layer on the substrate by vacuum sputtering using thecopper-iron target, the copper and iron of the copper-iron alloy layerbeing not phase separate.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, whereinmass ratio between the copper and iron within the copper-iron target isabout 1:4 to about 4:1.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein thecopper powder and the iron powder all have a purity of more than 99.9%,the copper powder has an average particle size of about 10 μm to about50 μm, and the iron powder has an average particle size of about 10 μmto about 50 μm.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein forming thecopper-iron target is carried out by hot isostatic pressing the copperpowder and iron powder for about 120 min to about 200 min and thensintering for about 2 hours to about 2.5 hours at about 1300° C. toabout 1500° C.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein forming thecopper-iron alloy layer uses a magnetron sputtering process, wherein thesputtering process uses argon as a working gas, the argon has a flowrate of about 100 sccm to about 300 sccm; wherein the copper-iron targetis applied with a power of about 6 kW to about 13 kW; and whereinmagnetron sputtering of the copper-iron alloy layer is conducted at atemperature of about 120° C. to about 180° C. and takes about 30 min toabout 60 min.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein thecopper-iron alloy layer has a thickness of about 120 nm to about 200 nm.7. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the substrate has a biasvoltage of about -100 V to about -200 V during sputtering of thecopper-iron alloy layer.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a step of ultrasonic cleaning the substrate before formingthe copper-iron alloy layer.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 1,wherein the substrate is made of stainless steel or copper alloy.